9 Things Mindfulness is Not
It feels like all of a sudden everyone’s talking about mindfulness.
CEOs are doing it and they’re trying to get their teams on board. Professional athletes are doing it and crediting it for their big wins. Even the people who “aren’t normally into that kind of thing” are getting curious.
But, as so often happens when a practice gains popularity seemingly overnight, mindfulness has become something of a buzzword — and mindfulness myths abound.
Which is why it’s tempting to dismiss it as just the latest wellness fad, to assume that it’s all about sitting on a cushion for hours at a time, or to imagine that you’d need to book a 7-day retreat in Bali to notice any tangible benefits. It’s also why you might be rolling your eyes right now.
So, when I talk about, engage in, or recommend a mindfulness practice, what does it actually look like? Do you need to dust off your yoga mat and light some candles, or is there more to mindfulness than trendy wellness influencers would have you believe?
To better understand what mindfulness is, it helps to explore the myths and talk about what mindfulness isn’t.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . time consuming.
For many, mindfulness conjures images of Zen monks, completely chilled out thanks to the many, many hours they’ve spent sitting in silence, fully in the present moment. So it’s easy to assume that you’d need to at least dedicate an hour or more each time to achieve even a fraction of that calm.
The good news is, you don’t.
Mindfulness is dose dependent — meaning consistency is more important than anything else. In fact, research shows that as little as 10 minutes of mindfulness practices per day for four weeks begins to show significant positive changes in the brain.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . about stopping your thoughts.
Ever heard the phrase, “the brain pumps thoughts like the heart pumps blood”? If you’ve ever tried meditating and despaired at just how many random thoughts went through your mind, you’ll know the truth of this analogy.
And, of course, the more you try to stop the thoughts from coming, the louder and more insistent they become.
But meditation, a form of mindfulness, isn’t about stopping your thoughts from coming — it’s about changing your relationship to them.
Instead of seeing every thought as true and urgent, you can start to see them as objects that come and go, viewing them with detachment and then choosing what you do with them.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . a relaxation technique.
We often think of mindfulness as a relaxation technique — which is why people get weird about doing it at work. After all, you wouldn’t drop into downward dog in the middle of a meeting.
Relaxation may be a lovely byproduct after you get into a regular practice, but mindfulness doesn’t require a certain pose, it doesn’t require you to drop everything so you can focus on your practice, and best of all, it’s not going to negatively impact your productivity.
In fact, most people don’t realize that you can actually be mindful in the midst of injury, stress, overwhelm, or even in the middle of a high stakes performance.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . about deep breathing.
Your breath is connected to your autonomic nervous system, so breathing techniques are often used as part of a mindfulness practice — but mindfulness is more than just the breath — it’s a way of being.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . a religion.
Because mindfulness is a feature of many Eastern faith-based practices, people often equate it to religion. But it’s not a religion. While there is a strong connection to spirituality in the practice, mindfulness meditation is actually a secular practice and as such doesn’t have to be connected to any particular dogma or beliefs to offer benefits.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . woo woo.
The woo woo crowd may have been some of the first people to bring mindfulness to the mainstream, but it’s definitely not some esoteric nonsense.
You see, our brains are wired for survival; we’re primed to be on the lookout for potential threats. Which is why we’re always working up against a strong negativity bias.
However, as we’ve learned through decades of research on neuroplasticity, a consistent mindfulness practice can literally rewire the brain in ways that will better serve us (more on that in my next post).
Mindfulness isn’t . . . a flow state.
Flow is a temporary state of high-performance that is based on specific conditions.
While mindfulness can be an effective gateway to that flow state, it’s inherently different. It’s a way of being that you can experience at all times — you can be mindful while doing literally anything — and the more you engage in mindfulness practices, the more you create the conditions that ultimately lead to flow.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . something you can do in theory.
Mindfulness is not an intellectual concept; just as reading up on the science of working out won’t make you fit, knowing about mindfulness is not the same thing as being mindful.
It requires knowledge and practice.
Mindfulness isn’t . . . a soft skill.
People in high stakes professions often worry that meditation will make them lose their edge.
In fact, the opposite is true: not only can it help prevent stress-related issues like burnout, it can actually ramp up your motivation and increase your ability to approach your work from a place of passion, vision, and mission.
In my next post I’ll talk more about what mindfulness is and why you might want to give it another try. If you’d like to learn more about the concept of mindfulness and how you can use it to develop greater focus and situational awareness, tap into flow states during high performance situations, and more wisely respond to stress, in your personal and professional life — check out my upcoming Mindful Performance Enhancement and Knowledge (mPEAK) course launching in January 2022.
